When I got it, I noticed that the Intel chipset does not have a heatsink on it. So I went to my nearest retailer store (Microcenter) to look for a chipset heatsink. There are only 3 North Bridge heatsink available there. First I bought the fanless Zalman heatsink here: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0253200 and noticed that this heatsink does not fit. So I went ahead and purchased all other available NB heatsink there and NONE fits. So I wondered that maybe this is a special Dell heatsink that they are using. I tried to search and search but nothing.

Now I'm seeking help that maybe you guys know where I can buy a low profile heatsink over the net. I took a picture for your reference:

As you can see, using a normal ruler, the distance between hole A to hole be is around 1.75 inches or 45mm.

This computer will be running 24/7 until it dies. It will be located in a different country which is so hot all the time. If I don't put a heatsink on the chipset, I'm almost certain it will die ASAP.

Please help.

Thanks!

Last edited by rekta on Tue Sep 06, 2011 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

How hot are we talking about here? Unless the system will routinely be running in an environment that is above ~37C I think the chipset should be fine without an aftermarket heatsink. I would be more concerned about the exhaust fan dying.

How hot are we talking about here? Unless the system will routinely be running in an environment that is above ~37C I think the chipset should be fine without an aftermarket heatsink. I would be more concerned about the exhaust fan dying.

Sorry about that, I don't know what happened to dropbox. Anyway, here it is:

I'm trying to run it now and I could still touch it with my finger fine. However, I'm here in the East Coast right now and its kinda cool (right now its 60F). In my home country (where the PC will stay), its always around 100's F all year long. Is it still safe to have no heatsink in that condition?

I had the same issue installing one on an Asus A8N-E a while back. Had to trim back several of the pins to avoid interference with the cooler on the graphics card.

It is a wonderful thing that most motherboards come standard with a passive northbridge cooler these days. Whiny little northbridge fans that burned out after a year if you ran the system 24x7 sucked big time.

I suggest going passive...the small fans on chipset or old VGA heatsinks are virtually guaranteed to wear out in not too long. The AS Epoxy + another heatsink is the way to go. Try asking around for old junked computers or electronics, get handy with a rotary cutting tool or a hacksaw and you're good to go. (The Zalman won't fit...MAKE IT FIT...by cutting it )

MadManOriginal wrote:I suggest going passive...the small fans on chipset or old VGA heatsinks are virtually guaranteed to wear out in not too long. The AS Epoxy + another heatsink is the way to go. Try asking around for old junked computers or electronics, get handy with a rotary cutting tool or a hacksaw and you're good to go. (The Zalman won't fit...MAKE IT FIT...by cutting it )

Exactly my thoughts! I was almost about to cut the Zalman earlier (maybe half an inch). Unfortunately, I don't have the tool to cut it.

You don't have to use the 47 mm tall Zalman ZM-NB47J northbridge cooler. There's a 32 mm tall version dubbed the ZM-NB32. There's also a 27 mm tall all-copper Enzotech CNB-S1. CoolerGuys have a selection. Have you measured your clearance? Note that these come with the plastic push pins and adjustable metal clamps so that you can mount the heatsink to the motherboard holes around your chip without resorting to epoxy.

JustAnEngineer wrote:You don't have to use the 47 mm tall Zalman ZM-NB47J northbridge cooler. There's a 32 mm tall version dubbed the ZM-NB32. Have you measured your clearance? Note that these come with the plastic push pins and adjustable metal clamps so that you can mount the heatsink to the motherboard holes around your chip without resorting to epoxy.

Wow, this will do! 32mm will be perfect.

Yes, about those push pins, it is actually very adjustable but no matter how I adjust the Zalman earlier it just won't align with the 2 holes. As if the Dell Zino mobo, has its own measurement and after market heatsink wont fit. I might still have to use epoxy which I'm kinda hesitant because if this breaks in 30 days, I can't return it anymore.

However, the one that you sent has a dimension of Size (LWH): 1.46 inches, 1.46 inches, 1.26 inches which is smaller than the zalman ZM-NB47J. So I might get lucky not to use a thermal paste.

Go to your nearest mom-n-pop computer shop. Explain to them what you want to do. Ask if they have a pile of bad motherboards (almost everyone has a junk pile) that you can scrounge for a matching heatsink; tell them you know it isn't that hot here, but you will be moving to somewhere that is. Ask what it will cost you if you find one that fits (know that they may just say "take it", but asking shows you're a decent customer, not someone looking for a handout). At most, they'll probably charge you five bucks for one.

If you lived in my neck of the woods, I'd gladly provide you one off one in my junk pile if it fit. I usually keep a few junkers around for the occasional BIOS chip, CMOS battery, some jumpers, or a part like the heatsink you mention.

Go to your nearest mom-n-pop computer shop. Explain to them what you want to do. Ask if they have a pile of bad motherboards (almost everyone has a junk pile) that you can scrounge for a matching heatsink; tell them you know it isn't that hot here, but you will be moving to somewhere that is. Ask what it will cost you if you find one that fits (know that they may just say "take it", but asking shows you're a decent customer, not someone looking for a handout). At most, they'll probably charge you five bucks for one.

If you lived in my neck of the woods, I'd gladly provide you one off one in my junk pile if it fit. I usually keep a few junkers around for the occasional BIOS chip, CMOS battery, some jumpers, or a part like the heatsink you mention.

Yup, I could try that. However, I already purchased the zalman from newegg (suggested by justanengineer) and if it fails, I could try what you suggested. Now that you mentioned it, I'm gonna look around here (northern jersey) and see if I get lucky.

It is OK if it wiggles a little, as long as it is being pressed down flat against the chip by the springs. How much thermal compound did you use? If you used too much, that could make the heastsink less effective.

just brew it! wrote:It is OK if it wiggles a little, as long as it is being pressed down flat against the chip by the springs. How much thermal compound did you use? If you used too much, that could make the heastsink less effective.

I just used a little. I just spread it evenly as usual. The NB heatsink I put I believe works great as I noticed the heat spreads to the sink perfectly. However, I found something I didn't like

I touched the ATOM heatsink and it was HOT!! I can't believe I didn't even tried to do it before. I was blinded by Speedfan/Everest reporting Core 0 is like 45C+. When I touched it, it didn't feel 45, it was way hotter. I would say almost to hot too touch. Although maybe its normal that way because of the 50mmx20mm exhaust right beside it. Unfortunately, BIOS doesn't have any temp readings.

I actually don't know now. I held the mosfets and those are smoking hot as well. I strongly believe that TMPIN1 = mosfets.

I'll do some mods and try some mosfets sinks and see if it will improve that 70-75C TMPIN1.

If you are doing all of this testing with the case open, that could be affecting the results as well. As paradoxical as it may seem, leaving the case open can actually raise the temperature of components, because the exhaust fan is no longer pulling cool air past them.

Yup, that is pretty much very similar. However, I think that is the Zino 400/410 which has an AMD processor with a nice looking heatsink. The heatsink of my Zino 300 is like a flat rectangle slab. How I wish my heatsink was something like the Zino 400! Also, the housing and everything are the same - its so tight! After putting the Zalman Heatsink, I won't be able to put a 3.5 HDD on it. It's actually fine since I'm using a 2.5 HDD which I put on top the that metal support (where the slim ODD should be). I just velcroed it

@just brew it!

Yup, opening the case will actually make the temp readings higher. So I did all my test while it was closed. On a side note, I ran prime95 for 15 hours straight and it was still fine. The Atom Core temp didn't even go over 53C. I'm still confused WTH is that TMPIN1 which hovers from 60C to 80C (yup it reached 80C max while running prim95). Aside from that, everything still works after a long stress test.

For now, I'll try to run it 24/7 for at least 3 weeks before I send it to my home country.